U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

Wednesday session started at the unchanged mark with light trading volume expected before holiday, but stocks rebounded to extend November rally on better-than-expected consumer confidence and a drop in oil prices.

Investors were encouraged by the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index, which came in at 81.6, slightly higher than the 81 reading Wall Street expected. In addition, oil priced dropped after the Energy Department reported substantial increases in the nation's fuel stockpiles. A barrel of light crude was quoted at $58.10, down 74 cents, on the Nymex.

Yet not all economic news was positive. A larger-than-expected increase in first-time jobless claims, which rose by 30,000 to 335,000 last week, caused concerns among investors that the labor market was still struggling to recover from disruptions caused by the Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Stocks have recently slowed down their upward march. After moving steadily higher throughout the morning, the major averages are showing gains of 0.4%, holding near intraday highs.

In mid day trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.50, or 0.41%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 4.38, or 0.35% and the Nasdaq composite index rose 8.60, or 0.38%.

Bonds edged lower, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.46% from 4.43% late Tuesday.

Technology stocks have driven the market to the morning's rally, with the segment getting even stronger. The computer hardware sector is now up about 1.3%. The networking space is also a notable advancer, rising by 1.2%.

The broker/dealer space is a significant mover to the upside. The sector is up about 1.2%, extending its high.

Retreating from 18-year highs, gold stocks dropped sharply in the first hour of Wednesday's trading, though rebounding from intraday lows. The sector is 2.2% below the unchanged mark.

Energy stocks have drifted back toward the downside lately, but they generally remain off lows for the day set before the release of the government's weekly inventory report. The natural gas sector has pushed to a new intraday low lately and is now the worst performer in the group with a loss of 1.5%.

Apple (AAPL: chart) and Motorola (MOT: chart) are among the many major tech stocks reaching 52-week highs. Google (GOOG: chart) has continuously advanced, adding to its peak and moving near $425. Yahoo! (YHOO: chart) has also set a fresh high.

EPIX Pharmaceuticals (EPIX: chart) has broken to a new 52-week low after it revealed that the FDA has demanded an additional trial in order to approve Vasovist. Calpine (CPN: chart) is adding to its losses after a sharp decline Tuesday, extending its 52-week low and approaching $1.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Sitel Corp. (SWW: chart) ,provider of outsourced customer-support services, retained Citigroup Global Markets to help the board evaluate strategies to boost value for shareholders. In a statement, the company didn't provide specific possible alternatives. The stock jumped 11.3%.

Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL: chart), manufacturer of food products, posted Q4 better-than-expected earnings of 59 cents a share, up from 50 cents in the same period last year, beating analysts’ expectations of 57 cents a share. The company projected 2006 earnings below expectations and the stock fell 6.6%.

Michaels Stores Inc. (MIK: chart), retailer, reported third-quarter net earnings of $55.4 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with $42.5 million, or 31 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter., exceeding estimates of 37 cents a share on revenue of $846 million. Same-store sales rose 0.8%. Company’s shares rose 7% on the favorable news.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN: chart) reported disappointing results for a late-stage clinical trial of a drug to reduce the incidence of heart attacks and deaths following coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Consequently the stock dropped 26%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Coming back from a drop in the previous period, crude oil inventories ticked slightly higher in the latest week, according to government data released Wednesday. Stocks of gasoline also edged slightly higher.